An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Auge

by Friedrich Kluge

Auge, neuter, ‘eye,’ from the equivalent Middle High German ouge, Old High German ouga, neuter; a word common to Teutonic; compare Gothic augô, Old Icelandic auga, Anglo-Saxon eáge, English eye, Dutch oog, Old Saxon ôga, ‘eye.’ While numerous terms for parts of the body (compare Arm, Fuß, Herz, Kinn, Knie, Ohr, &c.) are common to Teutonic with the other Aryan dialects, it has not yet been proved that there is any agreement with respect to Auge between Teutonic and Latin, Greek, Indian, &c. Of course there is an undeniable similarity of sound between the Aryan base oq, ‘eye,’ and Latin oculus, Greek ὅσσε for *ὄκjε, ὀφθαλμός, ὦπα, &c., Sanscrit akši, Old Slovenian oko, Lithuanian akí-s, ‘eye.’ —